World Archaeol 36 (4)

The social archaeology of Bronze Age seafaring was the subject of a recent paper published within World Archaeology (Van de Noort 2004). The landscape contexts of the various boat remains from two sites within the Humber estuary were examined and it was argued that different areas of the landscape provided focuses for ritualized and non-ritualized social activity. In this paper the authors re-consider this view, arguing for a broader consideration of boatbuilding and seafaring that reflects a symbiotic relationship between ritual and practical behaviour at the two sites. On one level, the process of boat construction, mending and possibly ferrying at North Ferriby may be considered from a `ritualized' context despite lacking monumental architecture. At another, the earlier landscape monuments at Kilnsea may be considered as serving a practical function in terms of navigation and pilotage, in addition to more ritualized activities associated with arriving, departing and the many dangers associated with seafaring.

The author questions the assumption that the Neanderthals were deficient in mental ability, arguing that the grounds for this assumption are based almost entirely on negative or missing evidence.

The author examines the `crisis of narratives' that has arisen for traditional peoples through a discussion of two ways of knowing: the traditional and the scientific. The paper begins with a discussion of some concepts as proposed by Lyotard (1987), continues with various basic distinctions between traditional and scientific ways of knowing, and then concludes by suggesting their compatibility and utility for the development of a wider perspective in both anthropology and archaeology.

the author explores the rationale for applying evolutionary ideas to the study of technology, and some of the ways these ideas have been used

the author enumerates several behavioural premises and, by means of a case study on nineteenth-century lighthouse illumination, illustrates the utility of the performance matrix for investigating processes of technology adoption